Fig. 3: Wisp1 contributes to beta cell replication in young mice.

a–c Beta cell proliferation in fixed pancreases from p14 Wisp1⁺/⁺ or Wisp1⁻/⁻ mice. a Representative images of pancreases co-immunostained for insulin (purple)/ki67 (green) or insulin (purple) /pHH3 (green). Nuclei are marked with Hoechst in blue. b Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are ki67+ in Wisp1⁺/⁺ (n = 5, yellow) or Wisp1⁻/⁻ (n = 6, orange) mice. c Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are pHH3+ in Wisp1⁺/⁺ (n = 4, yellow) or Wisp1⁻/⁻ (n = 5, orange) mice. d–f Beta cell proliferation in fixed pancreases from p12 Wisp1⁻/⁻ mice treated with saline or with rmWisp1 protein for three days (from p9 to p11). d Representative images of pancreases co-immunostained for insulin (purple)/ki67 (green) or insulin (purple)/pHH3 (green). Nuclei are marked with Hoechst in blue. e Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are ki67+ in mice injected with rmWisp1 (n = 4, orange) o saline (n = 4, brown). f Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are pHH3+ in mice injected with rmWisp1 (n = 3, orange) o saline (n = 3, brown). g–i Beta cell proliferation of 20wo mouse islet grafts transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye of p16 Wisp1⁺/⁺ or Wisp1⁻/⁻ mouse recipients. g Representative images of islet grafts co-immunostained for insulin (purple)/ki67 (green) or insulin (purple)/pHH3 (green). Nuclei are marked with Hoechst in blue. h Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are ki67+ in p16 Wisp1⁺/⁺ (n = 7, yellow) or Wisp1⁻/⁻ (n = 7, orange) mice. i Quantification of the percentage of beta (insulin+) cells that are pHH3+ in p16 Wisp1⁺/⁺ (n = 4, yellow) or Wisp1⁻/⁻ (n = 4, orange) mice. All data values represent mean ± SEM for the indicated n. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 using two-tailed Student’s t test. Scale bars are 25 μm. ND: not detectable.